Overview

• The Supreme Court declined on June 30 to review Children’s Health Defense’s appeal of lower court dismissals
• Children’s Health Defense argued Meta removed its anti-vaccine posts under pressure from the Biden administration in violation of its First Amendment rights
• The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and other lower courts found no evidence that Meta acted as a state actor bound by constitutional free speech protections
• Meta launched a misinformation crackdown in 2020 banning anti-vaccine ads and deplatformed the group’s Facebook and Instagram pages in 2022 for policy violations
• The CDC’s “Vaccinate with Confidence” initiative partnered with social media platforms to promote accurate vaccine information, highlighting debates over private moderation and public health messaging